A railway vehicle vibration damping device that suppresses vibration of a railway vehicle body in a right-left direction relative to a travel direction of the railway vehicle comprises, for example, a variable damping force damper interposed between the vehicle body and a bogie of the railway vehicle. A damping force required to suppress the vibration of the vehicle body is determined from a yaw direction angular velocity of the vehicle body and a sway direction velocity of the vehicle body in a vehicle body center, and a damping force of the variable damping force damper is adjusted so that the determined damping force can be generated.
More specifically, a damping force required to suppress yaw direction vibration is calculated by multiplying a distance from the vehicle body center to a bogie center and a control gain by a yaw rate. Further, a damping force required to suppress sway direction vibration is calculated by multiplying a control gain by the sway direction velocity. The damping force to be generated by the variable damping force damper is then calculated by adding together the yaw direction vibration suppressing damping force and the sway direction vibration suppressing damping force.
JP2003-320931A, published by the Japan Patent Office, proposes providing variable damping force dampers for suppressing yaw direction and sway direction vibration respectively between a vehicle body and a front bogie that supports a vehicle body front portion and between the vehicle body and a rear bogie that supports a vehicle body rear portion.